Audio 3:58
Finding missing women alive a rare occurrence

Martin CuddihyUpdated
Wed 8 May 2013, 1:09 PM AEST

The case of the missing young women in America whose rescue is being described by some of their relatives as miraculous. Police and federal agents are searching the suburban home in Ohio where they were held prisoner for at least a decade.

Transcript

ELEANOR HALL: Now to the case of the missing young women in America whose rescue is being described by some of their relatives as miraculous.

Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have now been reunited with their families.

And police and federal agents are searching the home in Ohio where they were held prisoner for at least a decade.

Authorities have arrested three brothers in connection with the kidnapping of the young women - two of whom were teenagers at the time.

Martin Cuddihy has our report.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Police believe a rundown suburban home in Cleveland, Ohio was used as a prison for about a decade.

Three women were rescued by a neighbour who heard screams for help.

Meagan Good runs a website called the Charley Project which tells the individual stories of missing people.

She says this appears to be a happy ending - but that isn't a common occurrence.

MEAGAN GOOD: A case like this, where it was obvious that these girls had been kidnapped, that's very rare that they turn up alive. I was as amazed as anybody else.

There are a couple of cases, especially in the last few years, where this happened but it's still incredibly rare.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Since their rescue, the survivors have been reunited with family.

ROBERT LOWERY: They have to remember a lot of things have changed.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Robert Lowery is from the US Centre for Missing and Exploited Children.

ROBERT LOWERY: The families should have to recognise that the children have grown and that they've lived through a very traumatic experience and it's very difficult for them, and it may be difficult for them to talk about. So a lot of patience and understanding has to go into that.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Dr Kathryn Smerling is a family therapist and behavioural expert.

KATHRYN SMERLING: With the proper therapy and the proper support they will live their life but they will probably always be looking around their back to see who's following them.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Three brothers have been accused of keeping the women captive.

The son of one of the men has admitted his father was the sort of person who could have committed crimes like this.

Similar kidnap cases have become increasingly common in recent years.

In 2002, 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was asleep in her bed when she was kidnapped at knifepoint.

Her 9-year-old sister was in the same room, saw the crime being committed and told her parents.

Nine months later, Elizabeth Smart was found alive.

ELIZABETH SMART: I remember my darkest moments were always pierced with the ray of hope that one day I would be rescued.

ELIZABETH SMART: For me, it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. There were days I didn't know if I'd make it, but I did, and I think that's what we should be focusing on is that these girls survived. Survivors do exist. There are still children out there who are waiting to be rescued.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Meagan Good says there's something about the cases where people go missing that intrigues everyone.

MEAGAN GOOD: Nine thousand plus American missing persons cases. They have to be at least a year old.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: What is it that intrigues you about these cases?

MEAGAN GOOD: Well I've always been interested in stories and the way I look at it, the Charley Project tries to tell the story of every person that is missing. I could even view it as part of a memorial site. Even if they're not found, I want to tell the world this person existed once.

And in this case, however, because these cases are so high profile and a lot of people are looking at my website now as a source of information, I've actually left the case files up temporarily so people can look at them but I have added the resolve notice saying that they've been located.

MARTIN CUDDIHY: Given that you have more than 9,000 cases on your website, I know it's asking you to speculate a bit but there is a possibility that there are quite a number of other cases like this that still haven't been solved.